Part heavy metal, part mariachi and party myth, Metalachi takes the stage at Visalia Fox on Feb. 17

VISALIA – Heavy metal and mariachi music are usually at arms length from one another, but Visalians are about to put their hands together for Metalachi!

This mariachi group turned heavy metal cover band offers one of the most unique sounds to come to town when they take their strings and horns on stage this Saturday at the Visalia Fox Theatre. In their first two albums, simply named “Uno” and “Dos,” Metalachi covers some of heavy metal’s greatest songs including Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”, Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills,” and Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark” as well as rock favorites “Hot For Teacher” by David Lee Roth, “Epic” by Faith No More and “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi.

With chorus in eight-part harmonies and guitar solos blared by trumpets, Metalachi blasts beyond cultural traditions and brand boundaries. The two genres actually have some things in common. They both know how to scream or yell in tune, both rely heavily on stringed instruments and both are rooted in energetic live performance. Metalachi’s spirited performances and melding of musical genres makes for an entertaining show that is part metal, part mariachi and part myth.

The band’s bio reads like a Hunter S. Thompson short story, full of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll but little verifiable facts. According to the bio, the band’s beginnings can be traced back to Veracruz, Mexico in 1982 when Consuela Espinoza gave birth to quintuplets nine months after a night of transgressions. At the age of 14, the “Espinoza cinco” made their way across the border and into America where the first thing they found a tattered record sleeve of Black Sabbath’s second album “Paranoid.”

Metalachi will scream metal with screeching violins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Visalia Fox Theatre, 300 Main St. in Visalia. Tickets are $23 and can be purchased online at foxvisalia.org.